G. grandidieri(tiger hissing cockroach)

[Herp13]

Hey, i currently have a colony of G. portentosa and i'm thinking of getting some more hissers, a different species though. I was thinking about defintly trying Tiger hissers, or maybe some of the other species, can anyone tell me about what species they have and what the set-up is like, and so on and so forth. Oh, and post some pictures too

 

[Kevin_Davies]

tiger stripe hissers are a form of Princisia vanwerebeki, (according to the BCG List Gromphadorhina grandidieri arent in culture at the moment)
I keep P. vanwerebeki, both the tiger stripe and normal forms, they are very similar to normal hissers to keep, I keep my ones in a large plastic tank, with coco humous and leaf litter as a substrate, they usually have a heatmat, but ive switched it off at present because of the temperature's here, here are some pictures of my ones.

I also keep other species of "hissers"

Elliptorhina chopardi

Princisia vanwerebeki

Gromphadorhina portentosa

 

[Herp13]

Very nice pictures. I still believe tiger hissers are a form of Gromphadorhina. Anyhow i really like P. vanwerebeki. The E. chopardi are also very cool. Do you have any of those Giant G. portentosa? The only place i've seen them for offer has them for like, $7.00 USD. I would really like to see an adult before i decide to get one Do you have any?

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Very nice pictures. I still believe tiger hissers are a form of Gromphadorhina. Anyhow i really like P. vanwerebeki. The E. chopardi are also very cool. Do you have any of those Giant G. portentosa? The only place i've seen them for offer has them for like, $7.00 USD. I would really like to see an adult before i decide to get one Do you have any?

I dont have any giant hissers, Ive seen them, but for the same price as you did, I will get them in a few weeks though probably, when I do, I'll post pics on this forum, some of my Princisia are really big, about 8cm, I would think giant hissers are a similar size, but im not sure.

 

[Herp13]

Oh, really? Could you post a picture of the P. vanwerebeki next to a G. portentosa to show there differences? Or are they the same? I'm very bed with mm measument. I think i want to get G. grandidieri though, and maybe some E. chopardi, nice small species. Are all hissers calm, mine are like little angels if you are gentle. Oh, and do the E. chopardi breed faster than their larger cousins?

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Oh, really? Could you post a picture of the P. vanwerebeki next to a G. portentosa to show there differences? Or are they the same? I'm very bed with mm measument. I think i want to get G. grandidieri though, and maybe some E. chopardi, nice small species. Are all hissers calm, mine are like little angels if you are gentle. Oh, and do the E. chopardi breed faster than their larger cousins?

They are very similar, there are probably some small differences, all my regular Princisia are much darker than my portentosa, but I know they're colour can be variable, my largest portentosa are around 5cm, my largest Princisia are a lot larger.

Most of my hissers are calm, some are very quick and skittish though, even adults, they're personalities seem to differ.

E. chopardi bred and grow fairly slowly.

 

[Herp13]

Oh, cool. Are the tiger hissers bigger than normal hissers?

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Oh, cool. Are the tiger hissers bigger than normal hissers?

yeah, they're a little bit bigger.

When I get a picture with an adult princisia, tiger stripe and portentosa i'll post it in this thread.

 

[Herp13]

How soon will that be?

 

[Kevin_Davies]

How soon will that be?

my camera is on charge, the pictures will be tommorow.

 

[Herp13]

Oh, ok then. Do you use them as feeders, or just keep them as pets. I have only fed around 5 of them, 1 to my brown horned frog and a couple babies and adults to my budgett's frog. What substrate do you use for them. I'm thinking about trying this stuff called Lizard litter(its made of ground up walnut shell's), it's made for dry enviornments but my hissers are fine in dry enviornments as long as i provide plenty of moisture sources. The stuff is also very loose so it's much easier for roaches to burrow in. What do you think?

 

[DoubleD's]

G. Obolongata

I am currently working on a colony of G. Obolongata, those are by far the largest species of hissing roach there is, i have sold a few of the adults 2 males and 2 females to be exact but i do have some babies within the colony.
I believe currently myself and James at Blaberus are the only ones breeding them at the moment.

Sincerely
Dexter D
Double D's
http://www.doubleds.org

 

[Herp13]

Do you have any for sale? How much?

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Oh, ok then. Do you use them as feeders, or just keep them as pets. I have only fed around 5 of them, 1 to my brown horned frog and a couple babies and adults to my budgett's frog. What substrate do you use for them. I'm thinking about trying this stuff called Lizard litter(its made of ground up walnut shell's), it's made for dry enviornments but my hissers are fine in dry enviornments as long as i provide plenty of moisture sources. The stuff is also very loose so it's much easier for roaches to burrow in. What do you think?

I dont use any of my roaches as feeders, they are kept as "pets", for substrate I use crushed oak and beech mulch and leaves, with whole dried and decaying leaves and moss.
Lizard litter should be ok as long as the cockroaches still have moisture i'd think.

Do you have any for sale? How much?

I would also be interested in G. obolongata, especially adults, what size do they get to? do you have any comparison pics with other hissers?

 

[Herp13]

Do you just not like to feed roaches? Or do you breed crickets too? Or do you use something completly different.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Do you just not like to feed roaches? Or do you breed crickets too? Or do you use something completly different.

I wouldnt like to use roaches as livefood.

I buy crickets, locusts and mealworms as livefood.

 

[Herp13]

But roaches are like 2x the nutritional value of crickets(sometimes even more nutritional). And they cost nothing once they are set up

 

[Kevin_Davies]

But roaches are like 2x the nutritional value of crickets(sometimes even more nutritional). And they cost nothing once they are set up

Ive always kept them as pets, I see cockroaches the same as my snails, centipedes, tarantula's etc.. I only use standard livefoods (like crickets, locusts etc)

..

(top left) Elliptorhina chopardi
(top right) Princisia vanwerebeki
(bottom left) Gromphadorhina portentosa
(bottom right) Princisia vanwerebeki "tiger striped"

 

[Herp13]

Nice pic Have you ever thought of feeding even lobster roaches? Anyways, i really like the tiger hisser, and the Dwarf hisser too

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Nice pic Have you ever thought of feeding even lobster roaches? Anyways, i really like the tiger hisser, and the Dwarf hisser too

I dont currently keep lobster roaches, but I have thought about using those as feeders before, they breed very quickly, and are good at climbing and escaping though, so I arent interested in keeping those again.